Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Messi chant by the fans overshadows Argentina’s dominance

The dominance of the Argentine National team, La
Albiceleste was apparent from the first minute of the final group game
of the Copa America Centenario.
Their speed and skill was on display as soon as they took to the pitch.
There was no Lionel Messi in
the starting XI, but it didn’t stop the 45,000-strong crowd from chanting his
name at every possible moment.

The goals came from his teammates
(Lamela, Lavezzi and Cuesta ) as Argentina clinched a matchup
with Venezuela in the quarterfinals. And all that dominance came with Messi
relaxing on the bench, hearing his name chanted by the crowd throughout the
first half as they eagerly anticipated the chance to see the best player of
this generation coming off a memorable reserve performance just a few days
earlier against Panama.

Through an
interpreter Argentina manager Gerardo Martino said;

"Regardless of the result,
regardless after the first half he knew he was going to play for 45
minutes," Martino said of Messi. "He is growing compared to the last
game. The last game he played 30, today 45 and he is feeling more confident.
That is what we were going to do regardless."

"People want to see him.
People pay all over the world to see him and he has to deal with that,".
"Sometimes he has to play and sometimes he has to be on the bench but he
has that obligation to follow through for the fans who are paying to be there.
He has to live with that."